Falcons trade for former No. 3 overall pick CB Jeff Okudah

The Falcons made what appears to be a low risk/high reward trade on Tuesday afternoon, acquiring former number 3 overall draft pick Jeff Okudah from the Detroit Lions in exchange for a 2023 fifth round draft pick.

Okudah was formerly the third overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, behind only Joe Burrow and Chase Young, and was the consensus best cornerback in that draft class going into it. He gets a second wind in his career in Atlanta, now.

Okudah has not had the best start to his NFL career coming out of Ohio State University, and has thus far not lived up to his lofty draft status in Detroit. A rough rookie season was followed by a ruptured achilles which cost him his entire sophomore campaign and while his 2022 was the best season yet it remained underwhelming.

The Falcons are buying low on a former prized draft prospect whom some though the team could even trade up for back in that draft. They ended up staying put and selecting A.J. Terrell with the 16th overall pick.

Thus far, Okudah has two interceptions in his career and one forced fumble. He will join a CB corps which presumably will feature Terrell, Casey Hayward and Mike Hughes among others. One might also wonder how this will affect Atlanta’s draft strategy, as they were heavily linked with the best corners at pick 8.